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Hidden Assets in Palatine Divorce Cases
Locating Hidden Assets in a Palatine Divorce
Illinois law requires that parties in a divorce disclose all financial information to the other spouse in order to facilitate the division of assets. Most of the time this information exchange is done in the spirit of the law, since both parties have full knowledge of both the marital asset and their spouse's non-marital assets.
However, in certain cases, one spouse purposely hides assets from his or her spouse. This may be done in anticipation of divorce, or a spouse may have secretly stashed money away throughout the marriage in the event of a divorce.
If one spouse was solely responsible for taking care of the family finances, then the other spouse may have no idea where money is invested or what it was used to purchase. Moreover, the spouse may even question the true amount of the family's annual income. A spouse in this situation could be at risk for being cheated out of his or her fair share of the marital assets because he or she has no idea what the couple actually owned.
Illinois Remedies for Failure to Pay Child Support
The divorce is finalized and child support, and custody orders are in place. Your ex has always been sporadic about making child support payments — some are on time, others are late. Yet the late payments are double what is required in order to make up for the missing payments. However, months have passed since you have received a check, and your ex will not return your calls.
What can be done to enforce payment, and what are the potential ramifications for your ex-spouse?
Illinois Child Support Enforcement
If your ex-spouse (the obligor) is delinquent in child support payments, meaning he or she has missed making one or more payments, you will need to file a motion for post-decree enforcement of the child support order. By submitting a “Petition for Rule to Show Cause,” pending you can show that the obligor's failure to make child support payments is without good cause, he or she can be held in contempt of Court.
Cohabitation and Alimony Payments in Illinois
Awarding alimony to stay-at-home parents that terminates when their youngest child turns 18, or when they remarry — whichever comes first — is not an uncommon action by the Court. Not wanting to lose alimony payments, however, some decide to never marry again and intend on receiving the alimony payments for the duration of their entire lives.
But what if a spouse who receives alimony moves in and establishes a relationship with a new partner that is akin to marriage, minus the official papers? Can alimony be terminated?
Modification of Palatine Alimony Award Based on Cohabitation
Under Illinois law, an alimony award can be terminated if a person receiving spousal support (the obligee) “cohabits with another person on a resident, continuing conjugal basis.” The purpose of this law is to prevent the situation mentioned above — a person who purposely remains unmarried just to be continue to receive spousal support.
Million Dollar Child Support in Illinois: How Much Does It Cost to Raise a Child?
The newest twist in the divorce of a Chicago hedge fund owner and his wife is her alleged request for $1 million a month in child support for their three children. To all but the most wealthy families (and even to most of them) $1 million per month seems excessive. But it raises the question, if child support is based on statutory guidelines, how can one parent request a certain amount of support, and what would it take for the Court to award it?
Children of Divorce Entitled to Same Lifestyle
Child support is based on a statutory formula that takes into consideration the net income of the obligor (the parent paying support) and the number of children to be supported. Once the Court determines the obligor's net income, he/she must pay a percentage of his/her monthly net income based on the number of children he/she has. For example, an obligor with three children must pay 32 percent of the monthly net income.
Online Document Prep for Your Divorce: Is it the Right Choice?
There are a variety of online companies that offer document preparation and do-it-yourself forms for couples going through a divorce or needing assistance with child custody issues. These sites promise to save users significant amounts of money in attorney fees and to resolve their issues amicably and without protracted litigation. However, document preparation sites are a poor substitute for the advice of a qualified, experienced legal professional.
Listed below are suggestions to consider before deciding to handle any family law issue on your own.
Individualized service. Every divorce is different. However, document preparation sites approach divorces the same way. These sites offer a simplified approach—users check a box to select and draft legal documents. Yet many people do not understand all of the issues that must settled in a divorce. Additionally, if users neglect to check an appropriate box, the proper forms will not be suggested, and they may find themselves in Court months or years later to resolve an issue they never knew they had.
Business Valuation and Division in Illinois Divorce
Many couples, especially those with a high-net worth, own a business that is not only their largest asset, but their sole source of income. When these couples divorce, difficult issues arise such as how to value the business, whether it should be sold or divided and, if divided, which spouse should receives the business and how should the other spouse be paid for his share.
Illinois Business Valuation
In order determine the division of assets in a divorce, the assets must first be assigned a value. However, determining the value of a business is not as easy. For an investment account, you simply look at the balance on any given day, or for a vehicle, you can look up the Kelley Blue Book value.
A business valuation involves examination of a variety of factors by an attorney and forensic accountant skilled at valuation. There are factors that must be looked at when calculating the value of a business, some of which are dependent on the type of business. In general, several factors that go into determining business value include:
Handling Illinois Child-Related Expenses in the Digital Age
If you have children, getting divorced means you are never truly free of your ex. The child custody and child support agreements mean you will, at minimum, be dealing with your ex when it comes to exchanging the children for visitation and dealing with support payments.
Yet while those child support payments are determined by a statutory formula based on the parents' income, deductions and the child custody schedule itself, there are several other child-related expenses that an agreement does not always cover. Hence, this means a lot of unnecessary friction that can often land parents back in court.
Payment of Child-Related Costs: There is an App for That
Given today's high-tech world, it should come as no surprise that there is now an app — several, in fact — designed to help make the process of paying for child-related expenses a lot less contentious. The apps, however, are not designed to track payment of child support. Instead, they track the “extras” that go into raising children — activities fees, sports equipment and uniforms, class trips and even, payment of medical co-pays and deductibles.
Step Away from the Computer: Divorce in the Age of Social Media
Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. If you have access to a computer or smartphone, you most likely have an account on at least one social media site. They are a great way to connect with far-flung family and friends, post photos and updates about what is going on in your life, and even vent now and again. However, if you are involved in a divorce or child custody case, what you post on social media could negatively impact the outcome of those cases.
Many people believe that what they post on social media is a private interaction between them and 350 of their closest friends. And while there are privacy settings users can put in place to restrict non-friends or followers to see their photos or read their updates, many people's pages do not employ these privacy settings. In fact, 80 percent of attorneys report combing through social media sites for evidence that can be used against the opposing party. Hence, even if your accounts are set to private, family, friends or even members of private online groups may be sharing information with your significant other.
Illinois Allows Unmarried Couples to Enforce Property Claims against Each Other
Taboos regarding cohabitation are quickly becoming passe as many of today's couples are opting to live together before – and sometimes in lieu of – marriage. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, unmarried couples comprised 45 percent of all U.S. households in 2010. But until recently, unmarried Illinois couples who ended a relationship had no rights to enforce property claims against an ex-partner, or otherwise divide assets, due to their unmarried status.
Blumenthal v. Brewer: Allowing Property Claims against Unmarried Ex-Partner
In Blumenthal v. Brewer, the Chicago couple had been in a committed relationship for 26 years. They lived together, commingled assets, and raised three children. In all ways, they acted as a married couple. Yet they were unmarried due to same-sex marriage being illegal in Illinois. Brewer, an attorney, had stayed home for several years to raise the children. Her partner, however, built a lucrative medical practice. At the end of the relationship, Blumenthal's net worth was $500,000 more than Brewer's.
Illinois Division of Assets: Why Title Does Not Trump All
My spouse and I have been married 15 years. I want to get a divorce, but I have been a stay-at-home mom for the past 10 years. I have no money, and everything is in my spouse's name. I do not know how I will be able to start over from scratch.
Questions similar to the one above are often posted to social media and divorce-related websites, and understandably, those in these situations are concerned. When it comes to divorce, there is a difference between marital and separate property, and separate property is not involved in the division of property. But simply because one spouse's name is not on a title does not make it separate property.
Property Division in Illinois Divorce
Illinois is an equitable distribution state, which means that marital assets are awarded in a manner that is most fair under the circumstances — not via a 50-50 split.
Introducing The Law Office of Nicholas W. Richardson
Nicholas W. Richardson is an experienced divorce lawyer and mediator whose comprehensive legal knowledge, commitment to clients and reputation for results bring lasting solutions to your problems.
The Law Office of Nicholas W. Richardson, P.C. serves clients in Illinois cities such as Palatine, Schaumburg, Inverness, Arlington Heights, Rolling Meadows, Glenview, Hoffman Estates, Bartlett, Des Plaines, Elk Grove Village, Mt. Prospect, Niles, Prospect Heights, Skokie, Streamwood, Barrington, Buffalo Grove, Wheeling, and others throughout Cook County, DuPage County, McHenry County, and Kane County.
Results listed are not a guarantee or indication of future case results.
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